Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

 
     5-1-12 REVISED GRADUATION RATES per County-District, AS RELEASED 120501
     5-1-12 Department of Education Release explains policy rationals for new rate methodology, federal requirements for revision of gradnuation rates
     4-11,12-12 p.m - Governor's Press Release re Priority, Focus and Rewards Schools Final list...PolitickerNJ and NJ Spotlight articles
     November Elections for Schools - Department of Education FAQ's
     List of PRIORITY, FOCUS and REWARDS SCHOOLS per DOE Application on ESEA (NCLB) Waiver
     Education Transformation Task Force Initial Report...45 recommendations for starters
     7-14-11 DOE Guidance on Local Options for using Additional State School Aid in FY'12 State Budget.PDF
     7-14-11 State GUIDANCE re: Using Additional State Aid as Property Tax Relief in this FY'12 Budget year.PDF
     FY'12 State School Aid District-by-District Listing, per Appropriations Act, released 110711
     7-12-11 pm District by District Listing of State Aid for FY'12 - Guidelines to be released later this week (xls)
     Democrat Budget Proposal per S4000, for Fiscal Year 2011-2012
     Additional School Aid [if the school funding formula,SFRA, were fully funded for all districts] per Millionaires' Tax bill S2969
     4-29-11 BOOMERANG! Near 80 per cent of School Budgets Passed in Wednesday'sSchool Elections
     4-7-11 Gov. Christie - 'Addressing New Jersey's Most Pressing Education Challenges'
     GSCS - Local District Listing : Local Funds Transferred to Charter Schools 2001-2010
     GSCS Bar Chart: Statewide Special Education cost percent compared to Regular & Other Instructional cost percent 2004-2011
     Link to Teacher Evaluation Task Force Report
     1-24-11 GSCSS Testimony before Assembly Education Committee: Charter School Reform
     1-13-11 Supreme Court Appoints Special Master for remand Hearing
     7-21-10 List of bills in Governor's 'Toolkit'
     Office on Legislative Services Analysis of Department of Educaiton - State Budget for FY'11
     4-21-10 DOE posts election results
     4-15-10 Education Week - Education Secretary recommends federal funds to 'preserve' education jobs
     3-23-10 GSCS Testimony presented to Senate Budget Committee on State Budget FY'11
     GSCS - Formula Aid Loss and Percent Loss by District - Statewide
     GSCS - Formula Aid Loss under 50%, by County
     GSCS - Formula Aid Loss of 50% or more, by County
     State Aid 2010 Reserve Calculation and Appeal Procedures
     School Aid Withheld Spreadsheet
     1-13-10 Christie's New Commissioner of Education to be announced today - 12:30 Statehouse Press Conference
     1-13-10 New Commissioner of Education to be announced today - 12:30 Statehouse Press Conference
     STATE BOARD of EDUCATION 2009-2010 MEETINGS SCHEDULE
     10-2-09 News of Note
     10-1-09 Education Week on Acheivement Gap narrowing; Algebra Testing
     ARRA funding guidelines& NJ accountability summary - links from Federal Government
     August 2009 Information on Federal Stimulus funding supporting school districts Fiscal Year 2009-2010
     7-22-09 'State gives extra aid for schools an extraordinary boost'
     7-16-08 Schools Testing measures adopted; Test scoring upgraded - harder to pass
     6-26-09 Executive Director to GSCS Trustees; Wrap Up Report - State Budget and Assembly bills this week
     6-18-09 NJ toughens high school graduation requirements
     6-10-09 Education Week on Abbott Decision
     6-9-09 COMMENTARY on Supreme Court Abbott school funding decisio
     5-09 GSCS ASKS - Education funding questions- school districts need answers
     5-19-09 Treasurer David Rousseau announces additional round of cuts to Gov's proposed State Budget FY2009-2010
     5-14-09 GSCS Heads Up - State Aid payments to be delayed into next Fiscal Year
     4-23-09 The public shows its support for public education in passing nearly 75% of school budgets statewide
     4-22-09 Statewide County by County Results FY0910 School Budget Elections
     4-22-09 Statewide District by District Results FY0910 School Budget Elections
     4-22-09 Department of Education releases recap of school budget vote, 73.5 passage rate
     4-21-09 Today is School Board Election Day - Remember to Vote
     090416 DOE RELEASE - Fed'l StimulusTITLE 1 ALLOCATIONS
     090416 DOE RELEASE - Fed'l Stimulus IDEA ALLOCATIONS
     3-25-09 Judge Doyne makes recommendation to Supreme Court on Abbott v School Funding Reform Act
     3-26 & 27-09 Abbott recommendation back to Supreme Court: - editorials & articles
     3-09 School Facilities Grant Program - Regular Operating Districts: Allocations & Analysis Round One
     Title 1 funding charts - Same as immediately below, but in PDF form: Latest Title 1 'preliminary' funding under the ARRA 3-09
     2-23-09 'There's no formula for fairness in school aid case'
     NJ District listing, Title One & IDEA under federal stimulus law
     11-25-08 Perspective piece criticizes recent Supreme Court Abbott decision
     9-24-08 Supreme Court hearing on constitutionality of School Funding Reform Act
     SAVE THE DATE - OCT. 7TH
     NJ League of Municipalities & NJ Dept of Education Education Forum Invitation
     6-4-08 Education Week Releases 'Diplomas Count' report & data
     Estimated 2008-2009 State Aid by County & District
     Annual School Budget Election Results by County Percentage of Budgets Approved, 1994-2007
     Compares Total Per Pupil State Aid (minus adjustments) under new formula - '06'07 to '08'09
     11-20-07 RELEASE OF NEW SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA LIKELY TO BE DELAYED UNTIL AFTER THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
     11-13-07 Speaker Roberts & Assembly Democrats Affordable Housing Proposal
     GSCS School Funding Paper 'Funding NJ's Schools...Finding a Workable Solution' distributed 10-22-07 at Press Conf in Trenton
     UPDATED - Possible Spec. Educ. Aid Loss to districts (based on current aid per current, yet outdated by 6 years, CEIFA distribution) if state chooses to 'wealth-equalize' this aid in a future formula
     10-23-07 NJSBA write up on GSCS Press Conf. re 'Funding NJ Schools...Finding a Workable Solution'
     GSCS School Funding Paper distributed 10-22-07 at Press Conf in Trenton
     10-23 Media reports & Trenton responses to date re GSCS Press Conf
     Spec. Educ. Aid Loss to districts (based on current aid per current, yet outdated by 6 years, CEIFA distribution) if state chooses to 'wealth-equalize' this aid in a future formula
     9-20-07 New Jersey School Boards Assoc. Releases its Report on Special Education
     Background Paper: Public School Funding in Massachusetts 7-07
     7-31-07 EMAILNET Status of School Funding Formula, more
     Tax Foundation 'Background Paper' Appropriation by Litigation
     8-7-07 'State rebuilds school construction program'
     7-26-07 Council on Local Mandates reverses DOE spec ed regulation
     7-26-07 Education Law Center on school funding reform via is subgroup report
     Excel Spreadsheet on New DFG's based on 2000 census
     STATEWIDE DATA and more: Charts, Reports
     Important School Funding Data Reports
     5-21-07 In Connecticut '2 School Aid Plans Have a Similar Theme'
     APRIL '07 MOODY's OUTLOOK ON SCHOOLS -NEGATIVE
     3-26-07 Education Week 'Quality Counts 2006' on NJ School Policy
     3-25-07 New York Times on NJ Comparative Spending Guide, more on Gov putting off signing A1, Tax Caps & Rebate bill
     2-27-07 Department of Education Power Point on State Aid for FY07-08 compared to FY 06-07
     2-14-07 GSCS letter to Gov Corzine & Commr of Education Davy - Request for State Aid FY0708
     2-7-07 Department of Education Releases 2006 School Report Cards
     2-7-07 School funding, school audits - need for new formula underscored
     Scheduled for Monday 1-22-07& website to study on cost to local taxpayers when school funding formula ingored by state
     11-15-06 The Special Session Jt Committee Reports
     11-11-06 'GSCS is working hard on the behalf of hundreds of school communities across the state'
     11-10-06 NJ education chief vows urban support
     11-6-06 The need for special education funding to stay as a 'categorical' aid based on each students disability is real
     Nov 2006 Special Aid loss to districts if aid were based on current ability-to-pay formula
     10-21-06 Education Data Study Released - how the news is being reported
     10-30-06 NY Times
     9-5-06 GSCS Testimony on cost saving meaures in Trenton
     Some Abbott funding history see May 27 1998 - Education Week article on Abbott V court decision
     School Budget Elections 2006 Summary Data
     6-12-06 EMAILNET - Extraordinary Special Education student aid; FY07 Budget 'crunch' is on; news clips
     Assembly Speaker Roberts proposes 'CORE' plan for schools & towns
     GSCS Charts show pressure on school funding
     FUNDING HISTORY- some articles
     3-28-06 State Budget FY07 - GSCS testimony before Assembly Budget Comm
     Funding Coalition submits paper 'Beginning Discussions on School Funding Reform'
     Governor Corzine takes steps towards major policy initiatives.
     3-28-06 NY Times re Texas school finance case
     3-24-06 EMAILNET FYI Update on Gov Corzine's Budget FY07
     3-23-06 EMAILNET Corzine says some Abbotts can raise taxes
     3-24-06 Schools learn who wins, loses in Corzine budget
     2-10-06 Star Ledger editorial re void of credible & useful data at Department of Education
     Dept Ed Directive 7-6-05: School Construction Sec 15 Grant Funding for more than 450 districts questionable
     EMAILNET 2-1-06 GSCS Advocacy FY07 Budget; On the Homepage Today
     2003 GSCS letter to legislators
     1-26-06 New York Times article re public schools fundraising for private support
     1-25-06 Star Ledger 'School District's Woes Point to Rising Tax Resistance'
     GSCS Testimony 2003 on Suggestions for School Funding - issues similar to 2005-6
     1-19-06 EMAILNET Quick Facts, On the Homepage Today
     EMAILNET 1-5-06 quick facts & State Board school funding Legal Committee decision
     Philadelphia Inquirer 6-16-05 Commissioner Librera Release Abbott Designation Report
     December 2005 Harvard Famiily Research Project Links
     Education Week article May 1998 Re Abbott Ruling 'High Court Ends School Funding Issues May 1998
     Standard & Poors Release Achievement Gap Study 8-23-05
     10-5-05 PRESS BRIEFING ON SCHOOL AID & FUNDING SPONSORED by Ad Hoc School Finance Discussion Group, GSCS is participant...10-6-05 ASbury Park Press (Gannett) & Press of Atlantic City articles
     Statehouse Press Briefing October 5, 2005 Notes & Handouts - Update on NJ School Finance
     Debt Service v State Share 0 to 40 Districts Before and After S200
     How State Figures Sending Districts' Per Pupil Cost
     GSCS School Funding and S1701 Power Point - February 2005
     DOE Announces NCLB-Designated Districts In Need of Improvement
     Rutgers-Eagleton Insitute analysis of property taxes-education funding issues
     Designation of Abbott Districts Criteria and Process
     NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts
     Standard & Poors National and State and School Data and Analyses
     Standard & Poors Releases Achievement Gap Study 8-23-05
10-21-06 Education Data Study Released - how the news is being reported
Study shows N.J. schools underfunded by $190M Saturday, October 21, 2006, The Record

..."We'd sure like to see how they are defining it," she [LynneStrickland, Exec.Director of Garden StateCoalition]said, expressing frustration at a lack of dialogue over the issues. "I would hope that we get a really open and viable discussion," she said. "These things must be aired in a public domain with enough credit given to the public to discuss it productively."

[NOTE: Strickland's comment on circuit breakers in the Record refers only to individuals under certain tax stresses, not to communities in general. The Record printed a clarification on this that was on p. A2 of its Sunday Oct. 22 edition."Clarification Sunday, October 22, 2006

An article Saturday about school costs misstated a potential approach supported by the Garden State Coalition of Schools. The "circuit breaker" concept the coalition supports is a limit on school taxes on one person's bill that could take into account their ability to pay..." ]

Star Ledger Mid-level districts short on funding, school study finds N.J. report: Hundreds feeling cash crunch

..."This is all about the bottom line, not the education or the kids." [Bonnie] Granatir said her community [Livingston] is comfortable with how much it spends. "When you look at how our children perform, they would see the money is well spent," she said. Staff writer Mark Mueller contributed to this report.

Study shows N.J. schools underfunded by $190M
Saturday, October 21, 2006




The total price for education in New Jersey could be going up, state Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, said Friday.

"We may very well be doing that, and we're going to have to come up with [the money] to do it," he said.

Statewide cost estimates generated by the state Education Department and released this week indicate that spending during the 2004-05 school year should have been at least $190 million more than it was. The idea of the study was to gauge how much districts should be spending to provide students with a "thorough and efficient" education.

Codey declined to detail how much education costs might rise or how the state would fund a possible increase.

After lawmakers froze state school aid in most suburban districts in recent years, local property tax bills climbed to an average of $6,000 -- twice the national average. State residents pay the highest property taxes in the nation, with the bulk of the money going toward schools.

The state also released documents Thursday looking at alternate ways of funding education.

The district-by-district figures are based on advice from a group of experts assembled by the state Education Department in 2003, and the department's subsequent calculations.

The documents do not draw conclusions on how the findings might affect property taxes.

In Bergen County, the data show 29 out of 76 districts spent less than the study suggested was appropriate in order to provide a complete education. In Passaic County, eight out of 20 districts spent less. Other districts spent significantly more; Teaneck spent $9.4 million more than the estimate.

"The state has never clearly defined what they mean by a 'thorough and efficient' education," said Judith McKay, Teaneck Board of Education president. "So it's very difficult to comment on are we going above and beyond."

State officials declined to comment on the methodology or accuracy of the estimates, which officials would describe only as "preliminary" and a "work in progress." The data were released under court order, after a successful lawsuit by the Education Law Center, a Newark-based non-profit that advocates for poor students.

Some were critical of the state's reluctance to explain the figures.

"I would caution any legislator or district official or board member from putting any credence into these numbers, unless and until the Department of Education can come forward and present full documentation of how they arrived at them," said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, who participated in the state's effort.

Statewide, the data suggest spending was about 1 percent less than it should have been, Sciarra said.

Towns that spent less than the study said was adequate included 13 of the 31 so-called Abbott districts. Those low-income communities, including Paterson, Passaic and Garfield, serve 22 percent of the students in the state but receive 55 percent of state aid under a court ruling intended to correct long-standing inequities between rich and poor towns.

Does that mean the Abbott districts aren't getting enough funding?

"I don't know if a lot of people in the Legislature would agree with that, with all the money that's been plowed into the Abbott [districts]," Codey said. "Suburban districts with special-needs students feel they are getting hosed. We're going to redo the school funding formula to be more fair to those districts while keeping Abbotts held harmless -- meaning their funding will not be cut but it will not go up like it had been."

Many suburban districts say the funding formula has left them out in the cold. State aid for Bergen County school districts last year averaged $1,502 per student, compared with $7,992 for Passaic County and $8,991 for Essex County.

Clifton, which is bordered by three Abbott districts, spent $10.9 million less than the estimate. The solution: "increasing the aid we get from the state," said Board of Education President Marie Hakim, who said the district operates efficiently to "do more with less."

"Our needs are not any different than the Abbott districts," she said. "When individuals move [to Clifton] from the Abbott communities, they bring with them the needs that they've had."

A committee of lawmakers is studying ways to change the school funding formula. The co-chairmen, South Jersey Democratic state Sen. John Adler and Assemblyman Herb Conaway, did not return several calls Friday.

The documents released included a year-old Education Department presentation on revamping the funding formula. Governor Corzine's office declined to comment on which ideas are under active discussion, saying only that "nothing is off the table."

One approach is a cap or "circuit breaker" that would limit how many local tax dollars go to fund schools. Another idea would tie the state's share of school costs more closely to individual home values.

"We're still talking about [the circuit breaker]," Codey said. "I'm not so sure that that's viable in terms of amount of money required."

Lynne Strickland of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, an education advocacy group, said her organization was "positive" about circuit breakers.

[NOTE: Strickland's comment on circuit breakers refers only to individuals under certain tax stresses, not to communities in general. The Record is printing a correction on this that should be on p. A2 of its Sunday Oct. 22 edition or Monday Oct.23.]FONT>

"We'd sure like to see how they are defining it," she said, expressing frustration at a lack of dialogue over the issues.

"I would hope that we get a really open and viable discussion," she said. "These things must be aired in a public domain with enough credit given to the public to discuss it productively."

E-mail: carroll@northjersey.com

 

Mid-level districts short on funding, school study finds

N.J. report: Hundreds feeling cash crunch

Saturday, October 21, 2006

BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL AND JOHN MOONEY

Star-Ledger Staff

Hundreds of New Jersey school districts, too well-off to receive large amounts of state aid but not wealthy enough to count on local taxpayers for more support, don't have enough funding to provide their students an "adequate" education, a state report indicates.

The controversial report, ordered to be released by a judge two weeks ago after an advocacy group filed suit to obtain it, shows most of New Jersey's wealthiest districts spend more than enough for all the teachers, supplies and classroom services the state says their students need.

Poor districts, the recipients of vast infusions of state aid in recent years, also spend enough, on average, to meet the "adequate" threshold.

But for more than 250 communities in the middle -- Rahway, Woodbridge, Brick and Clifton are a few examples -- spending falls nearly $500 million short, the state data show.

The report, compiled by the state Department of Education, is likely to add more volatility to the debate over how best to cut New Jersey's highest-in-the-nation property taxes, which account for 55 percent of school funding, at a time when the state already is grappling with a budget crisis.

The findings came as no surprise to school officials in middle-income communities, where superintendents and school board members have long complained about funding inequities.

"By state aid remaining flat, it's pushed the burden onto the taxpayers," said Vincent S. Smith, superintendent of Woodbridge schools, which according to the report, spent $18 million below the $148 million the state formula says should be needed. "So how much more can they take?"

The report compares district-by-district spending figures with what should be spent, as determined through a complex formula that takes into account the number of children who qualify for free lunches and those for whom English is a second language, among other factors.

Lobbyists assailed the state report, saying it is a sloppily developed tally that will muddy the debate as lawmakers and state officials prepare to unveil a new formula for distributing more than $7 billion in school aid.

"These budgets are not credible unless and until the department can fully document how they were calculated," said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, the organization that sued for the report's release and that has handled a long-running lawsuit over public school funding in 31 of the state's neediest communities. "Clearly, the department's effort to determine education costs was not professional, rigorous or thorough."

As presented by the state, there is a clear pattern to school funding in New Jersey.

Across the school districts identified as the state's neediest, those included in the Abbott vs. Burke lawsuit Sciarra has handled, actual spending in the 2004-2005 school year was almost exactly in line with the spending levels the state determined to be necessary.

In those districts, a total of $3.9 billion was spent compared with the $3.874 billion the state calculated to be needed -- a difference of barely one-half of 1 percent. Almost all of that spending is bankrolled by state aid, required by a series of state Supreme Court orders in the Abbott lawsuit.

Among the 128 communities classified as the state's wealthiest, actual spending exceeded the amount the state formula determined was needed.

Those communities spent a total of $3.14 billion on school last year, about $166 million above the amount the state formula deemed adequate. There, state aid is minimal and local property taxpayers shoulder the bulk of school costs.

For hundreds of communities in the middle, however, the state tally paints a different picture. Officials in those communities say state aid has fallen far short of meeting actual needs, and local taxpayers have been tapped out.

"The burden falls on the taxpayers to come up with the difference, and this community is a middle-class type of environment and not in the position to come up with the money to pay these expenses," said Frank Buglione, superintendent of schools in Rahway, one of the districts in the middle. "There's a limit they can pay, and we understand that."

State Education Department officials, who fought a lengthy court battle to try to keep the tally under wraps, declined to go into detail about the report.

"It's work product; it's preliminary," department spokeswoman Kathryn Forsyth said.

On Tuesday, the author of the formula on which the state based its report is scheduled to appear before the special legislative committee developing a new school funding formula.

That consultant, John Augenblick of Denver, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Augenblick was hired three years ago to oversee the development of a method for calculating how much money it should take to offer an adequate public school education in each New Jersey community. Using local costs and local school demographics, the state report is an attempt to tally the cost of the particular number of teachers, aides, special services and other expenditures needed in each community.

Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, whose membership includes many of the state's wealthier school districts, accused state officials of skewing the numbers to underestimate the actual cost of schooling in New Jersey.

"Without the ability to review this and see what goes into it, how can we say the spending above this prescribed line is inappropriate? I don't think we can," she said. "Given the way this has been rolled out at the last minute, this smacks to me as a low ball entry into the first round of this debate."

The report raised concern in districts where it said spending was higher than necessary.

"I'm very nervous," said Bonnie Granatir, president of the Board of Education in Livingston, where total spending of $67.1 million was calculated to be $8 million more than the amount needed. "This is all about the bottom line, not the education or the kids."

Granatir said her community is comfortable with how much it spends.

"When you look at how our children perform, they would see the money is well spent," she said.

Staff writer Mark Mueller contributed to this report.